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| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |54|2021|01|11}}<ref name="Guardian"/>
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| occupation = Business executive
| known for =
| title = Former CEO
[[Royal Mail]]
| term = 2021–2023
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Thompson's appointment as CEO was announced on 11 January 2021.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Makortoff |first1=Kalyeena |title=Royal Mail appoints Simon Thompson as chief executive |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jan/11/royal-mail-appoints-simon-thompson-chief-executive-ocado-nhs-test-and-trace |access-date=11 January 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=11 January 2021}}</ref> Thompson will receive a salary of £500,000, plus a pension of 13.6% of base pay (about £71,400 a year) and bonuses yet to be determined.<ref name="Guardian"/>
Thompson, a non-executive director of Royal Mail since November 2017, was managing director of the
In May 2023, it was announced that Thompson would step down as head of Royal Mail. In the statement announcing his departure, Mr Thompson said he had been "incredibly proud to lead Royal Mail during this crucial period, and the changes made & negotiated have given Royal Mail a chance to compete and grow".<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-05-12 |title=Royal Mail boss Simon Thompson to step down |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65572229 |access-date=2023-05-12}}</ref> The [[Communication Workers Union (United Kingdom)|Communication Workers Union]] had previously called for Thompson to step down.
An article by the Telegraph stated the [[Communication Workers Union (United Kingdom)|Communication Workers Union]] "refused to acknowledge that there is even a need for modernisation, when the case for change is overwhelming"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marlow |first=Ben |date=2023-03-29 |title=Royal Mail workers are living in a 1970s dream world |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/29/unions-have-blame-royal-mail-driven-bankruptcy/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
==Criticism==
In 2023, as Royal Mail’s CEO, Thompson appeared twice before the UK parliament’s business, energy and industrial strategy select committee (BEIS). The first BEIS cross-party committee in January 2023, chaired by MP [[Darren Jones (politician)|Darren Jones]], heard testimony from Thompson and also from [[Dave Ward (trade unionist)|Dave Ward]], the General Secretary of the [[Communication Workers Union (United Kingdom)|Communication Workers Union]] on issues related to Royal Mail workers’ industrial action.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Lawson |first=Alex |date=2023-03-17 |title=Royal Mail CEO accused of 'incompetence or cluelessness' by MPs |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/17/royal-mail-ceo-simon-thompson-accused-of-incompetence-cluelessness-by-mps-ofcom-letter-deliveries |access-date=2023-05-05 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
In January 2023, Mr Thompson provided a detailed response to the Select Committee meeting, covering all questions raised during the hearing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Simon |date=2023-02-22 |title=Letter to the Chair from the Royal Mail, 20 February 2023 |url=https://committees.parliament.uk/work/7176/royal-mail-and-the-post-office/publications/3/correspondence/ |website=UK Parliament Committees}}</ref>
Thompson appeared before the BEIS committee for a second time because he was recalled by MPs who felt he had not given “wholly correct” answers at his first appearance.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Royal Mail boss Simon Thompson accused of giving 'inconsistencies' in evidence to MPs |url=https://news.sky.com/story/royal-mail-boss-recalled-over-inconsistencies-in-evidence-to-mps-12794847 |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Thompson’s second appearance was also noteworthy due to the fact that Darren Jones had deemed it necessary that Thompson, Royal Mail’s chair [[Keith Williams (businessman)|Keith Williams]], and operations development director Ricky McAuley all swear an oath to tell the truth before the committee under a warning of contempt of parliament and a “potential perjury.”<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />
Summing up the session, Jones was quoted in ''[[The Guardian]]'' as suggesting a common theme among answers given to the committee by Thompson and his two associates: “We have rogue posters, rogue managers, we have isolated incidents, we have a global pandemic, we have industrial action,” he said. “It is everyone else’s fault, nothing to do with me, guv [sic]."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sweney |first=Mark |date=2023-02-22 |title=Royal Mail boss blames rogue managers for tracking devices on workers |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/22/royal-mail-boss-blames-rogue-managers-for-tracking-devices-on-workers |access-date=2023-05-05 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
Upon stepping down the Telegraph reported that Thompson was bullied out by militant unions and was wrongly attacked as an enemy of the working man.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marlow |first=Ben |date=2023-05-10 |title=Royal Mail's boss was bullied out by militant unions |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/05/10/royal-mail-trade-unions-pay-dispute-simon-thompson/ |access-date=2024-05-07 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
== Vindicated ==
In December 2023, the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) wrote to the Business & Trade Select Committee following concerns raised about personal date use. They concluded that there is insufficient evidence of misuse of personal information and were satisfied that Royal Mail had identified and rely on a lawful basis of use.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Prendeville |first=Owen |date=2023-12-21 |title=committees.parliament.uk-documents |url=https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/42747/documents/212705/default/ |website=UK Parliament Committees}}</ref>
As a result of public concerns raised to the Business & Trade Select Committee, in January 2024 OFCOM published their report on Royal Mail Quality of Service. They concluded that “in the evidence we assessed, we did not identify any suggestion that Royal Mail’s Senior Management had directed the prioritization of parcels over letters outside of recognized contingency plans”.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Enforcement Team |first=Ofcom |date=2024-01-09 |title=Investigation into Royal Mail's quality-of-service performance in 2022/23 |url=https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/bulletins/enforcement-bulletin/all-closed-cases/cw_01271 |website=Ofcom}}</ref>
== Pre-Industrial Action ==
The Times reported that during 2021, Thompson had hardly put a foot wrong, overseeing a period of strong growth for the company alongside progress in modernization its antediluvian labour practices and growing its share price by 55%.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hosking |first=Patrick |date=2021-12-28 |title=In a year of big challenges and setbacks, we needed all the heroes we could get |newspaper=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/in-a-year-of-big-challenges-and-setbacks-we-needed-all-the-heroes-we-could-get-xf5gw662j |access-date=2024-05-07 |language=en |issn=0140-0460}}</ref>
==References==
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